Producing an agile kind of crossover SUV that's easy to drive and capable of multiple uses is the big idea behind MDX. Its name drives home the multi-task nature, with the initials meaning Multi-Dimensional Cross-Trainer, in the image of a toned athlete accomplished in various sports. Acura works it as a refined luxury vehicle with cushy appointments and fancy features, yet the three rows of flexible seats permit different uses as a workhorse hauler and the powerful engine enables the MDX to tow a trailer up to 5000 pounds. Read More »
2012 Nissan Juke Compact Crossover SUV
Stretching more than 13 feet long and decorated with a bulbous face featuring round rally-style headlamps and curvaceous fender blisters capped by frog-eye amber running lights, Nissan's streamlined little wagon has the elevated stance and cargo capacity of a small-scale SUV with four flank doors for passengers and a liftgate at the tail for accessing the rear cargo bay. Read More »
2012 Volkswagen Passat Mid-Size Sedan
The four-door Passat, Volkswagen's mid-size family sedan, scores a re-do for the seventh generation on an expanded unibody structure with choice of three fuel-thrifty powertrains and the metal shell honed to a smooth new shape. Read More »
2012 Ford Escape Hybrid Compact Crossover SUV
Virtually silent at start-up with only the electric motor switching on, the Escape Hybrid leaps forward on command with help from the electric motor, which can propel the wagon up to 44 mph. When more power is needed, a generator cranks up the gasoline engine in only a fraction of a second. Read More »
2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK350 Sports Coupe and Roadster
An aggressive prow on the SLK350 -- a design homage to the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG supercar -- focuses on a large grille studded with the tri-star Mercedes emblem and flanked by a horizontal bar and optional adaptive bi-xenon headlamps posted on the front corners. Body lines are classic for a roadster with a long front hood that sweeps up the steep rake of a windscreen and over the two-seat cockpit to a brief boot in back. Read More »
2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8 Performance Mid-Size Coupe
This new rendition of the SRT8 Challenger carries the formidable credentials of a street-legal racer: A lowered chassis with taut suspension tweaked for performance, massive 20-inch rear wheels wrapped in 255/45ZR20 Goodyear Eagle RSA speed-rated performance tires, big four-piston Brembo-brand brake calipers and a humongous 6.4-liter V8 engine that's a high-tech rendition of Chrysler's fabled HEMI plant with hemispheric combustion chambers. Read More »
2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8 Full-Size Sedan
This Generation 2.0 rendition of the 300 SRT8 carries the formidable credentials of a street-legal racer: A lowered chassis with taut suspension tweaked for performance, massive 20-inch rear wheels wrapped in 255/45ZR20 Goodyear Eagle RSA speed-rated performance tires, big four-piston Brembo-brand brake calipers and a humongous 6.4-liter V8 engine that's a high-tech rendition of Chrysler's fabled HEMI plant with hemispheric combustion chambers. Read More »
2012 Chevrolet Sonic Subcompact Sedan And Hatchback
The two new Sonic models vary toward the tail, where Sonic Sedan shows an arched roof concluding at a brief trunk ledge while Sonic Hatch has the roof extending beyond the lip of the back door before diving down through a liftgate to the body-colored wrap of a tail bumper. Both Sonic Sedan and Sonic Hatch contain a passenger compartment with room for five riders plus more personal space than the pint-size appearance may indicate and far more standard features than the typical economy car. Read More »
2012 Chrysler 200 Convertible
A crisp character line etched into the trailing edge of each front fender stretches rearward across the doors and rises gradually to the tail deck. And a high beltline pitched parallel to the character line gains a chrome trim piece along the bottom edge of side windows. The vehicle, ranked in the mid-size segment with front-wheel-drive traction, carries the numeric label of Chrysler 200 as one step down in size and price from Chrysler's 300 series. Read More »
2012 Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty Pickup Truck
These behemoth trucks, built on a strong structure that's modular in design to allow multiple configurations for cabin size and box length, bulge from chiseled sheetmetal styling and ripple with enthused strength due to heavy-duty powertrains that muscle up to the head of the heavy class in terms of raw horsepower, engine torque and efficiency for towing and toting hefty loads. Read More »